Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential mental health impact of (a) disability tests and (b) sanctions.

No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of PIP or WCA, assessments or social security sanctions.

a) Evaluations of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) policy are routinely carried out, and often include engagement with external researchers. The methods used are designed to be appropriate to the specific type of intervention being evaluated. Customer experience of assessments is also continually monitored. However, it would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the specific impact of disability tests on mental health from other contributory factors.

b) Under Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those found to have limited capability for work and claimants on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach. Where a customer has a health condition, illness or disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor these requirements to what is reasonable and achievable, taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements may be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.

A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so. In cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances.